Supreme Court restrains Amrapali Group directors from leaving country

In a similar petition by 100 homebuyers who invested in three other projects of Amrapali Centurion Park Pvt Ltd at Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh, the Supreme Court had on October 6 issued a notice to the Centre and the housing group.

Amrapali Group Silicon City in Noida. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra issued a notice to the company and sought its reply within two weeks on a plea filed by Amrapali Silicon City Flat Owners Welfare Society.(Sunil Ghosh/HT File Photo)

The Supreme Court restrained the directors of realtor Amrapali Group from leaving the country without its permission.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra issued notice to the company and sought its reply within two weeks on a plea filed by Amrapali Silicon City Flat Owners Welfare Society.

The bench, also comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, appointed senior advocate Shekhar Naphade as amicus curiae to assist it by espousing the homebuyers’ cause.

In a similar petition by 100 homebuyers who invested in three other projects of Amrapali Centurion Park Pvt Ltd at Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh, the apex court had on October 6 issued a notice to the Centre and the housing group.

This plea sought quashing of a National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) order initiating insolvency proceedings against Amrapali Silicon City Pvt Ltd under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 as the proceedings affected the homebuyers of Amrapali Centurion Park Pvt Ltd.

Under the bankruptcy law, consumer and recovery cases and decrees passed by civil courts and consumer fora in favour of homebuyers against real estate firms could not be executed once insolvency proceedings begin at the NCLT.

The plea has sought that either the homebuyers are treated equally with banks and FIs, or the provisions of the bankruptcy code, which give priority to lending institutions, be held ultra vires to the Constitution as being violative of fundamental rights like rights to equality and life.